This outcast doesn't care anymore!

Never underestimate the peeping-power of your male friends. They might not be as peep-y as their female counterparts, but they're definitely more harmful. Like just yesterday, I had this friend of mine come over for a while. Thinking he probably wouldn't notice my sad looking laptop, didn't bother to hide it 'properly'. I was sure he wouldn't take a peek. He didn't peep, he just took a good hard look.

I was in the kitchen(filling in my water bottle, not cooking! Duh.), when I thought I heard the very sound I was dreading all this while- the sound of keystrokes. Sure as hell F was doing something on my comp and before I could stop him from invading my privacy further, he looked up at me. It was a strange expression, like he was shocked.

"Hmm. So this is what you were hiding your lappy for,eh?"
"Hiding? It was right under the pile of clothes yonder. Why would I hide it anyway?" I refused to cave.
"No? Okay, but now I know what you watched last Sunday!", he said, smirking.

My legs became jelly. He might be my friend and all, but aside of inheriting the very dreaded feminine characteristic- peeking, he had also mastered the art of gossiping. I had no idea what would be the reaction of my male friends if they got to know of it. The girls all already knew.

"Out of all the things available on the net, Beatnik, why would you ever access OneManga?! I mean, how could you read MANGA! After all that we taught you after making an exception for you in our exclusive 'boys-only' club, is this what you do to us? Read Manga? Whatever happened to the sanctity of the anime!"

It was like a slap in the face. Yes, they had taken me under their wing, introduced me to the world of anime and even filled in my disk drives with unending Naruto, Bleach and FMA episodes. They just had one condition- do not ever read the manga. Although they'd maintained that the reason behind it was the very benefit of us all, that this would ensure that the pleasure of watching the fresh episodes everytime wouldn't be adulterated in any darn way. But I knew deep down my heart that they had an ulterior motive of making sure that I never got ahead in the series than them, that I didn't know how Itachi was not a bad guy after all before they found out, that I always begged them for more episodes and writhed and cried and begged until they obliged. That I was always on their mercy. Not any more though. Sure I wasn't as resourceful as them, and was perpetually challenged by the poor internet connection that never allowed me to download any videos from anywhere, but I had finally found a way out. The way of the Manga. So what if there is no inspiring background music, no over-the-top dubbing, no colors, no live animation? Manga at my disposal gave me something to look forward to everyday. Whenever I would be troubled with self-doubt, I'd simply treat myself to the boy-who-never-gave-up tale of Naruto. Or like when I had a whole week's wait ahead of me for the next chapter of Naruto, I'd hop on to Bleach, or maybe FMA. The Manga gave me a new lease of life, a life that was finally free of begging and living off the mercy of my so-called friends. It helped me while away countless hours everyday in a more 'productive' way.

I may be a 'elite anime group' pariah now, but I feel liberated, I feel empowered. I love you OneManga.